Space-efficient underfilling techniques for electronic assemblies

ABSTRACT

Space-efficient underfilling techniques for electronic assemblies are described. According to some such techniques, an underfilling method may comprise mounting an electronic element on a surface of a substrate, dispensing an underfill material upon the surface of the substrate within a dispense region for forming an underfill for the electronic element, and projecting curing rays upon at least a portion of the dispensed underfill material to inhibit an outward flow of dispensed underfill material from the dispense region, and the underfill material may comprise a non-visible light (NVL)-curable material. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of, claims the benefit of, and claimspriority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/089,491 filed on Apr. 2,2016, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments herein generally relate to electronic assemblies, such aselectronic assemblies comprising electronic components mounted onprinted circuit boards (PCBs).

BACKGROUND

Some types of connection arrangements for surface mounting electroniccomponents to PCBs feature mounting connections of types that providelimited mechanical flexibility. For example, due to the rigidity of thesolder balls of a ball grid array (BGA), even a relatively slight degreeof bending may result in solder joint fracture. In order to safeguardagainst the potential for mechanical stress upon an assembly to bend orotherwise deform the substrate in such a way as to fracture mountingconnections of a given component, an underfill material may be implantedin the region between that component and the substrate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates an overhead view of a first electronic assembly.

FIG. 1B illustrates a lateral view of the first electronic assembly.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a first underfilling process.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a dispense path.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a first underfill region.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a first keep-out zone.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a dispense assembly.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a second underfilling process.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a second underfill region and anembodiment of a second keep-out zone.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a third underfilling process.

FIG. 10A illustrates an embodiment of a first stage of a fourthunderfilling process.

FIG. 10B illustrates an embodiment of a second stage of the fourthunderfilling process.

FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment of a second electronic assembly.

FIG. 12A illustrates an embodiment of a first stage of a featureformation process.

FIG. 12B illustrates an embodiment of a second stage of the featureformation process.

FIG. 12C illustrates an embodiment of a third stage of the featureformation process.

FIG. 13 illustrates an embodiment of a first process flow.

FIG. 14 illustrates an embodiment of a second process flow.

FIG. 15 illustrates an embodiment of a storage medium.

FIG. 16 illustrates an embodiment of a computing architecture.

FIG. 17 illustrates an embodiment of a system.

FIG. 18 illustrates an embodiment of a device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments may be generally directed to space-efficientunderfilling techniques for electronic assemblies. According to somesuch techniques, an underfilling method may comprise mounting anelectronic element on a surface of a substrate, dispensing an underfillmaterial upon the surface of the substrate within a dispense region forforming an underfill for the electronic element, and projecting curingrays upon at least a portion of the dispensed underfill material toinhibit an outward flow of dispensed underfill material from thedispense region, and the underfill material may comprise a non-visiblelight (NVL)-curable material. Other embodiments are described andclaimed.

Various embodiments may comprise one or more elements. An element maycomprise any structure arranged to perform certain operations. Eachelement may be implemented as hardware, software, or any combinationthereof, as desired for a given set of design parameters or performanceconstraints. Although an embodiment may be described with a limitednumber of elements in a certain topology by way of example, theembodiment may include more or less elements in alternate topologies asdesired for a given implementation. It is worthy to note that anyreference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances ofthe phrases “in one embodiment,” “in some embodiments,” and “in variousembodiments” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment.

FIG. 1A illustrates an overhead view of an electronic assembly 100.Electronic assembly 100 comprises an element 102 and a substrate 104,and element 102 is mounted on substrate 104. In various embodiments,element 102 may generally comprise an electronic element. In someembodiments, element 102 may comprise a silicon die, or another type ofsemiconductor die. In various embodiments, element 102 may comprise oneor more integrated circuits (ICs). In some embodiments, such IC(s) maycomprise processing circuitry. In various embodiments, such IC(s) maycomprise radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry. In someembodiments, substrate 104 may comprise a printed circuit board (PCB).The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

FIG. 1B illustrates a lateral view of an electronic assembly 100. Asshown in FIG. 1B, in various embodiments, element 102 may be mountedonto substrate 104 via a connection array 106. Connection array 106 maygenerally comprise a set of one or more connections that mechanicallycouple element 102 to substrate 104. In some embodiments, some or all ofthe connections of connection array 106 may comprise conductiveconnections that electronically couple conductive features of element102 with conductive features of substrate 104. Examples of suchconductive features according to various embodiments may include—withoutlimitation—traces, tracks, vias, pads, lands, leads, and planes. In someembodiments, connection array 106 may comprise the various solder ballsthat may conductively connect an array of BGA pads on the surface ofsubstrate 104 to a corresponding array of BGA pads on the bottom ofelement 102. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

In various embodiments, the nature of the connections in connectionarray 106 may constrain the degree to which electronic assembly 100 canflex in the vicinity of element 102 without fracturing one or more ofthe connections in connection array 106. For example, the acceptableflex in the vicinity of element 102 may be significantly limited in someembodiments in which connection array 106 comprises solder ballsconnecting BGA pads of element 102 to BGA pads of substrate 104. Invarious embodiments, in order to safeguard against the potential formechanical stress upon electronic assembly 100 to bend or otherwisedeform substrate 104 in such a way as to fracture connections ofconnection array 106, it may be desirable to implant an underfillmaterial to fill unoccupied space between element 102 and the substrate104.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of an underfilling process according towhich such an underfill may be formed according to some embodiments.According to the underfilling process of FIG. 2, a dispenser 208 may beused to dispense an underfill material 210 upon the surface of substrate104. More particularly, in various embodiments, dispenser 208 maydispense underfill material 210 within a dispense region. In someembodiments, dispenser 208 may dispense underfill material 210 asdispenser 208 traverses a dispense path, which may generally comprise apath along some or all of the periphery of element 102. In suchembodiments, the dispense region may comprise the peripheral regionswithin which the underfill material 210 is dispensed as dispenser 208traverses the dispense path. In various embodiments, capillary actionmay draw dispensed underfill material 210 from the dispense region intothe unoccupied space between element 102 and substrate 104. In thisexample, that unoccupied space may comprise the space not occupied byconnections of connection array 106.

In some embodiments, underfill material 210 may generally comprise amaterial that remains substantially rigid or firm when heated to amaximum temperature expected to be observed in the vicinity of element102 during ongoing operation. In various embodiments, in order to enableunderfill material 210 to flow after being dispensed upon the surface ofsubstrate 104, underfill material 210 may be heated prior to beingdispensed. In some embodiments, heating underfill material 210 may causeit to transition from a firm or highly-viscous state to a less viscousstate, which may increase its ability/tendency to flow into unoccupiedspace beneath element 102. In various embodiments, heating underfillmaterial 210 may increase its tendency to be drawn into unoccupied spacebeneath element 102 by capillary action. In some embodiments, substrate104 may also be heated in order to enhance the capillary action effect.The embodiments are not limited in this context.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a dispense path 312 that may berepresentative of a dispense path that may be traversed by dispenser 208in various embodiments according to the underfilling process of FIG. 2.As shown in FIG. 3, dispense path 312 generally comprises a path alongall four sides of element 102. If dispenser 208 of FIG. 2 is configuredto dispense underfill material 210 while traversing dispense path 312,then the dispense region may generally comprise board space proximate tothe four sides of element 102. It is to be appreciated that numerousdispense paths are both possible and contemplated, and the embodimentsare not limited to this example. In some embodiments, an implementeddispense path may pass along a lesser number of sides of element 102,and/or may traverse a lesser portion of the periphery of element 102. Invarious embodiments, rather than comprising a continuous path, animplemented dispense path may comprise a set of two or morenon-contiguous sub-paths. The embodiments are not limited in thiscontext.

With respect to any given underfill process such as the underfillprocess of FIG. 2, the term “underfill region” may be used tocollectively denote any space on the surface of substrate 104—other thanthat beneath element 102—that ultimately becomes coated with underfillmaterial in conjunction with that underfill process. In someembodiments, while some dispensed underfill material 210 may flow intothe unoccupied space beneath element 102, other dispensed underfillmaterial 210 may tend to flow outwardly, away from element 102. Invarious embodiments, heating underfill material 210 to enable it to moreeasily flow into the unoccupied space beneath element 102 may increasethe tendency for some dispensed underfill material 210 to flowoutwardly, away from element 102, resulting in a larger underfillregion.

FIG. 4 illustrates an underfill region 414 that may be representative ofthe implementation of the underfilling process of FIG. 2 according tosome embodiments. With respect to any given underfilling process, theterm “underfill region” may be used to collectively denote any space onthe surface of the substrate—other than that beneath the element to beunderfilled—that ultimately becomes coated with underfill material inconjunction with that underfill process. Thus, underfill region 414 maybe representative of the space on the surface of substrate 104—otherthan that beneath element 102—that becomes coated with underfillmaterial 210 in conjunction with the underfilling process of FIG. 2. Asreflected in FIG. 4, in various embodiments, according to theunderfilling process of FIG. 2, outwardly-flowing underfill material 210may reach regions of the surface of substrate 104 that are significantlydistant from element 102.

In some embodiments, for any of a variety of possible reasons, it maynot be desirable to mount or otherwise incorporate other elements onregions of the surface of substrate 104 that are (or will become) coatedwith underfill material. As such, in various embodiments, a design forelectronic assembly 100 may define a keep-out zone to accommodate anunderfill region such as underfill region 414. In such embodiments, thekeep-out zone may generally comprise a defined region within whichelements are not to be mounted or otherwise incorporated upon thesurface of substrate 104. In some embodiments, a keep-out zone that isdefined for a given underfilling process may be slightly larger than theexpected underfill region with respect to that underfilling process, inorder to provide a margin for error FIG. 5 illustrates an example of akeep-out zone (KOZ) 516 that may be defined to accommodate underfillregion 414 according to various embodiments. In some embodiments, asreflected by the example of FIG. 5, the amount of surface area that mustbe reserved as a keep-out zone in conjunction with forming an underfillfor element 102 according to the underfilling process of FIG. 2 may besignificant, and may even exceed the amount of surface area occupied byelement 102 in some cases.

Disclosed herein are space-efficient underfilling techniques that may beimplemented in various embodiments in order to form an underfill for anelectronic element in a manner that consumes less surface area relativeto an underfilling process such as that of FIG. 2. According to somesuch techniques, an underfilling process may be designed such that theoutward flow of dispensed underfill material is inhibited in order toreduce the size of the underfill region that results from thatunderfilling process. In various embodiments, the use of such anunderfilling process may enable a reduction in the size of a keep-outzone for the electronic element. The embodiments are not limited in thiscontext.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a dispense assembly 600 that may beused to implement one or more of the disclosed space-efficientunderfilling techniques according to some embodiments. As shown in FIG.6, dispense assembly may comprise a dispenser 608 coupled with a lightsource 618. Dispenser 608 may generally be configured to dispense anunderfill material. In various embodiments, dispenser 608 may beconfigured to dispense an underfill material that can be cured usingnon-visible-light (NVL), and light source 618 may be configured to emitnon-visible light of a nature appropriate for curing underfill materialdispensed by dispenser 608. As employed herein, the term“non-visible-light” denotes electromagnetic radiation of wavelengthssubstantially residing outside of the range of wavelengths typicallyvisible to the human eye. As employed herein to describe a givenmaterial, the term “NVL-curable” denotes that the described material canbe cured using non-visible-light.

In some embodiments, dispenser 608 may be configured to dispense anNVL-curable underfill material that can be cured using ultraviolet (UV)light (a “UV-curable” underfill material), and light source 618 may beconfigured to emit UV light of the nature required to cure thatUV-curable underfill material. In various embodiments, dispenser 608 maybe configured to dispense an NVL-curable underfill material that can becured using infrared (IR) light (an “IR-curable” underfill material),and light source 618 may be configured to emit IR light of the naturerequired to cure that IR-curable underfill material. The embodiments arenot limited to these examples.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of an underfilling process that may berepresentative of the implementation of one or more of the disclosedspace-efficient underfilling techniques according to some embodiments.In various embodiments, according to the underfilling process of FIG. 7,dispenser 608 may generally dispense an underfill material 710 upon thesurface of substrate 104 within a dispense region for forming anunderfill for element 102. In some embodiments, light source 618 mayproject a curing beam 720 upon at least a portion of the dispensedunderfill material 710 to inhibit outward flow of dispensed underfillmaterial 710 from the dispense region. Curing beam 720 may generallycomprise light rays of a type usable to cure underfill material 710.

In various embodiments, in conjunction with being used to form anunderfill for element 102, dispense assembly 600 may generally bepositioned such that dispenser 608 is situated between light source 618and element 102. In some embodiments, dispensed underfill material 710that flows away from element 102 may quickly be cured by curing beam720, while the flow of dispensed underfill material 710 towards element102 may be unrestricted. In various embodiments, the curing of dispensedunderfill material 710 by curing beam 720 may create a dam-like effect,according to which the outward flow of dispensed underfill material 710may be blocked by cured underfill material 710 in its path, forcing thematerial to flow in the opposite direction. In some embodiments,dispense assembly 600 may be conveyed along a dispense path, such asdispense path 312 of FIG. 3. In various embodiments, dispenser 608 maydispense underfill material 710 within the dispense region by dispensingunderfill material 710 as dispense assembly 600 traverses the dispensepath. In some embodiments, light source 618 may project curing beam 720upon dispensed underfill material 710 as dispense assembly 600 traversesthe dispense path. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, underfill material 710 may comprise anNVL-curable material, and curing rays 1020 may comprise non-visiblelight of a nature appropriate for curing that NVL-curable material. Insome embodiments, underfill material 710 may comprise a UV-curablematerial, and curing beam 720 may comprise UV light. In variousembodiments, underfill material 710 may comprise an IR-curable material,and curing beam 720 may comprise IR light. In some embodiments,underfill material 710 may comprise an NVL-curable epoxy. For example,in various embodiments, underfill material 710 may comprise a cationicUV-curable epoxy or a free radical UV-curable epoxy. In someembodiments, underfill material 710 may comprise an NVL-curablematerial, such as an NVL-curable epoxy, that is also thermally curable.The embodiments are not limited in this context.

FIG. 8 illustrates an underfill region 814 that may be representative ofthe implementation of the underfilling process of FIG. 7 according tovarious embodiments. For example, underfill region 814 may berepresentative of an underfill region that results when an NVL-curableunderfill material is dispensed by dispense assembly 600 of FIG. 6 as ittraverses dispense path 312 of FIG. 3. Unlike underfill region 414 ofFIG. 4, underfill region 814 only extends a small distance outward fromthe periphery of element 102. As such, as shown in FIG. 8, the use ofthe underfilling process of FIG. 7 may permit the implementation of akeep-out zone 816 that is significantly smaller than the keep-out zone516 that may be required to accommodate underfill region 414 inconjunction with implementation of the underfilling process of FIG. 2.The embodiments are not limited to this example.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of another underfilling process thatmay be representative of the implementation of one or more of thedisclosed space-efficient underfilling techniques according to someembodiments. According to the underfilling process of FIG. 9, ratherthan being projected by a light source that moves in tandem with thedispenser that dispenses the underfill material, the curing rays may becontinuously projected upon a static curing region that surrounds thedispense region. For example, curing rays may be projected upon thecuring region in the form of curing frame 922. Although curing frame 922is depicted in this example as being square in shape, other shapes areboth possible and contemplated, and the embodiments are not limited tothis example. In various embodiments, portions of underfill materialthat flow away from element 102 and are cured by curing frame 922 mayessentially act as an o-ring, seal, dam, or other type of obstacle thatprevents or inhibits flow of underfill material away from element 102.According to some embodiments, the underfilling process of FIG. 9 may bewell-suited for use in forming an underfill for a semiconductor die,and/or in situations requiring glob top control or dam and fillapplications, such as wirebond protection applications. According tovarious embodiments, in the latter case, an exposure LED pattern may beprojected around the underfill material dispenser. The embodiments arenot limited to this example.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate first and second stages of anotherunderfilling process that may be representative of the implementation ofone or more of the disclosed space-efficient underfilling techniquesaccording to some embodiments. As reflected in FIG. 10A, the first stagemay involve forming an underfilling stencil 1024 for an element 1002mounted on a surface of a substrate 1004. In various embodiments,underfilling stencil 1024 may be formed by deposition of a stencilmaterial. In some embodiments, element 102 may generally comprise anelectronic element. In various embodiments, element 102 may comprise asilicon die, or another type of semiconductor die. In some embodiments,element 102 may comprise one or more integrated circuits (ICs). Invarious embodiments, such IC(s) may comprise processing circuitry. Insome embodiments, such IC(s) may comprise radio frequency (RF)transceiver circuitry. In various embodiments, substrate 104 maycomprise a printed circuit board (PCB). The embodiments are not limitedto these examples.

As reflected in FIG. 10B, the second stage may involve dispensingunderfill material 1010 to form an underfill for element 1002. In someembodiments, underfill material 1010 may be dispensed through one ormore openings of underfilling stencil 1024. In various embodiments, alight source 1018 may be used to project curing rays 1020 in order tocure at least a portion of the dispensed underfilling material 1010. Insome embodiments, at least a portion of curing rays 1020 may at leastpartially permeate underfilling stencil 1024 in conjunction with curingthe underfill material 1010. In various embodiments, curing rays 1020may be projected for an amount of time sufficient to cause some or allof the dispensed underfill material 1010 to hold its shape, andunderfilling stencil 1024 may then be removed. In some embodiments, theunderfilling process of FIGS. 10A and 10B may be well-suited for use instrip level applications, and/or system in package (SiP) applications inwhich the dispensing of underfill material may tend to be timeconsuming. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, underfill material 1010 may comprise anNVL-curable material, and curing rays 1020 may comprise non-visiblelight of a nature appropriate for curing that NVL-curable material. Insome embodiments, underfill material 1010 may comprise a UV-curablematerial, and curing rays 1020 may comprise UV light. In variousembodiments, underfill material 1010 may comprise an IR-curablematerial, and curing rays 1020 may comprise IR light. In someembodiments, underfill material 1010 may comprise an NVL-curable epoxy.For example, in various embodiments, underfill material 1010 maycomprise a cationic UV-curable epoxy or a free radical UV-curable epoxy.In some embodiments, underfill material 1010 may comprise an NVL-curablematerial, such as an NVL-curable epoxy, that is also thermally curable.The embodiments are not limited in this context.

FIG. 11 illustrates a lateral view of an electronic assembly 1100. Asshown in FIG. 11, electronic assembly 1100 comprises a substrate 1104,as well as a plurality of elements 1126 and 1128 that are embedded inand/or mounted on that substrate 1104. In various embodiments, elements1128 may comprise electronic components/packages that are mounted onsubstrate 1104. In some embodiments, elements 1126 may compriseconductive features, such as traces, tracks, vias, pads, lands, leads,and planes. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 12C illustrate first, second, and third stages of afeature formation process that may be representative of theimplementation of one or more techniques disclosed herein. As reflectedin FIG. 12A, the first stage of the feature formation process mayinvolve forming a stencil 1224. In various embodiments, stencil 1224 maybe formed by deposition of a stencil material. As reflected in FIG. 12B,the second stage of the feature formation process may involve dispensinga material 1210 in order to form features upon elements 1126. In someembodiments, material 1210 may be dispensed through openings of stencil1224 that generally coincide with the locations of elements 1126. Invarious embodiments, a light source 1218 may be used to project curingrays 1220 in order to cure at least a portion of the dispensed material1210. In some embodiments, at least a portion of curing rays 1220 may atleast partially permeate stencil 1224 in conjunction with curing thematerial 1210. In various embodiments, curing rays 1220 may be projectedfor an amount of time sufficient to cause the dispensed material 1210 tohold its shape. In some embodiments, the third stage of the featureformation process may involve removing stencil 1224. In variousembodiments, as reflected in FIG. 12C, the curing of the dispensedmaterial 1210 during the second phase may cause the dispensed material1210 to harden and form features 1230 that hold their shape once stencil1224 is removed. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In various embodiments, material 1210 may comprise an NVL-curablematerial, and curing rays 1220 may comprise non-visible light of anature appropriate for curing that NVL-curable material. In someembodiments, material 1210 may comprise a UV-curable material, andcuring rays 1220 may comprise UV light. In various embodiments, material1210 may comprise an IR-curable material, and curing rays 1220 maycomprise IR light. In some embodiments, material 1210 may comprise anNVL-curable epoxy. For example, in various embodiments, material 1210may comprise a cationic UV-curable epoxy or a free radical UV-curableepoxy. In some embodiments, material 1210 may comprise an NVL-curablematerial, such as an NVL-curable epoxy, that is also thermally curable.The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Operations for the above embodiments may be further described withreference to the following figures and accompanying examples. Some ofthe figures may include a process flow. Although such figures presentedherein may include a particular process flow, it can be appreciated thatthe process flow merely provides an example of how one or moretechniques described herein may be implemented. Any particular suchprocess flow may be implemented using one or more hardware elements, oneor more software elements executed by a processor, or any combinationthereof. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a process flow 1300 that may berepresentative of the implementation of one or more of the disclosedtechniques according to some embodiments. For example, process flow 1300may be representative of one or both of the underfilling process of FIG.7 and the underfilling process of FIG. 9. As shown in FIG. 13, anelectronic element may be mounted on a surface of a substrate at 1302.For example, element 102 may be mounted on a surface of substrate 104.At 1304, an NVL-curable underfill material may be dispensed upon thesurface of the substrate within a dispense region for forming anunderfill for the electronic element. For example, dispense assembly 600of FIG. 6 may be conveyed along a dispense path, and may dispenseNVL-curable underfill material upon the surface of the substrate withinthe dispense region as it traverses the dispense path. At 1306, curingrays may be projected upon at least a portion of the dispensed underfillmaterial to inhibit an outward flow of dispensed underfill material fromthe dispense region. For example, light source 618 of FIG. 6 may projecta curing beam upon dispensed underfill material as dispense assembly 600traverses a dispense path. The embodiments are not limited to theseexamples.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a process flow 1400 that may berepresentative of the implementation of one or more of the disclosedtechniques according to various embodiments. For example, process flow1400 may be representative of the underfilling process of FIGS. 10A and10B. As shown in FIG. 14, stencil material may be deposited at 1402 toform an underfilling stencil for an electronic element mounted on asurface of a substrate. For example, stencil material may be depositedto form underfilling stencil 1024 of FIG. 10A. At 1404, an NVL-curableunderfill material may be dispensed through one or more openings of theunderfilling stencil to form an underfill for the electronic element.For example, underfill material 1010 of FIG. 10B may be dispensedthrough one or more openings of underfilling stencil 1024 to form anunderfill for element 1002. At 1406, curing rays may be projected tocure at least a portion of the disposed underfill material. For example,light source 1018 of FIG. 10B may project curing rays 1020 to cure atleast a portion of the underfill material 1010 dispensed in order toform the underfill for element 1002. The embodiments are not limited tothese examples.

It is worthy of note that although the preceding discussion has beendirected to example embodiments in which an NVL-curable underfillmaterial is used, the embodiments are not so limited. Any light-curableunderfill material may potentially be used in conjunction withimplementation of one or more of the disclosed techniques according tovarious embodiments. As employed herein to describe a given material,the term “light-curable” denotes that the material can be cured usingelectromagnetic radiation of some kind, which may or may not comprisenon-visible light. In some embodiments, a light-curable underfillmaterial may be dispensed and cured according to one or more of thedisclosed techniques. In various embodiments, the light-curableunderfill material may comprise an NVL-curable material, such as aUV-curable material or an IR-curable material, that is cured usingnon-visible light. In some other embodiments, the light-curableunderfill material may comprise a visible light (VL)-curable materialthat is cured using visible light. In various embodiments, it may bepossible to cure the light-curable underfill material both by usingnon-visible light and by using visible light. In some embodiments, acombination of non-visible light and visible light may be used to curethe light-curable underfill material. The embodiments are not limited inthis context.

FIG. 15 illustrates an embodiment of a storage medium 1500. Storagemedium 1500 may comprise any computer-readable storage medium ormachine-readable storage medium, such as an optical, magnetic orsemiconductor storage medium. In various embodiments, storage medium1500 may comprise an article of manufacture. In some embodiments,storage medium 1500 may comprise a non-transitory storage medium. Insome embodiments, storage medium 1500 may store computer-executableinstructions, such as computer-executable instructions to implement oneor both of process flow 1300 of FIG. 13 and process flow 1400 of FIG.14. Examples of a computer-readable storage medium or machine-readablestorage medium may include any tangible media capable of storingelectronic data, including volatile memory or non-volatile memory,removable or non-removable memory, erasable or non-erasable memory,writeable or re-writeable memory, and so forth. Examples ofcomputer-executable instructions may include any suitable type of code,such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code,static code, dynamic code, object-oriented code, visual code, and thelike. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

FIG. 16 illustrates an embodiment of an exemplary computing architecture1600 that may be suitable for implementing various embodiments aspreviously described. In various embodiments, the computing architecture1600 may comprise or be implemented as part of an electronic device. Insome embodiments, the computing architecture 1600 may be representativeof a computing device that comprises a structure featuring an electronicassembly constructed to one or more of the disclosed techniques, such asone or more of the underfilling process of FIG. 7, the underfillingprocess of FIG. 9, the underfilling process of FIGS. 10A and 10B, thefeature formation process of FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 12C, process flow 1300of FIG. 13, and process flow 1400 of FIG. 14. The embodiments are notlimited in this context.

As used in this application, the terms “system” and “component” and“module” are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, eitherhardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or softwarein execution, examples of which are provided by the exemplary computingarchitecture 1600. For example, a component can be, but is not limitedto being, a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard diskdrive, multiple storage drives (of optical and/or magnetic storagemedium), an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application runningon a server and the server can be a component. One or more componentscan reside within a process and/or thread of execution, and a componentcan be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers. Further, components may be communicatively coupled to eachother by various types of communications media to coordinate operations.The coordination may involve the uni-directional or bi-directionalexchange of information. For instance, the components may communicateinformation in the form of signals communicated over the communicationsmedia. The information can be implemented as signals allocated tovarious signal lines. In such allocations, each message is a signal.Further embodiments, however, may alternatively employ data messages.Such data messages may be sent across various connections. Exemplaryconnections include parallel interfaces, serial interfaces, and businterfaces.

The computing architecture 1600 includes various common computingelements, such as one or more processors, multi-core processors,co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers, peripherals,interfaces, oscillators, timing devices, video cards, audio cards,multimedia input/output (I/O) components, power supplies, and so forth.The embodiments, however, are not limited to implementation by thecomputing architecture 1600.

As shown in FIG. 16, according to computing architecture 1600, acomputer 1602 comprises a processing unit 1604, a system memory 1606 anda system bus 1608. In some embodiments, computer 1602 may comprise aserver. In some embodiments, computer 1602 may comprise a client. Theprocessing unit 1604 can be any of various commercially availableprocessors, including without limitation an AMD® Athlon®, Duron® andOpteron® processors; ARM® application, embedded and secure processors;IBM® and Motorola® DragonBall® and PowerPC® processors; IBM and Sony®Cell processors; Intel® Celeron®, Core (2) Duo®, Itanium®, Pentium®,Xeon®, and XScale® processors; and similar processors. Dualmicroprocessors, multi-core processors, and other multi-processorarchitectures may also be employed as the processing unit 1604.

The system bus 1608 provides an interface for system componentsincluding, but not limited to, the system memory 1606 to the processingunit 1604. The system bus 1608 can be any of several types of busstructure that may further interconnect to a memory bus (with or withouta memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of avariety of commercially available bus architectures. Interface adaptersmay connect to the system bus 1608 via a slot architecture. Example slotarchitectures may include without limitation Accelerated Graphics Port(AGP), Card Bus, (Extended) Industry Standard Architecture ((E)ISA),Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), NuBus, Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (Extended) (PCI(X)), PCI Express, Personal Computer MemoryCard International Association (PCMCIA), and the like.

The system memory 1606 may include various types of computer-readablestorage media in the form of one or more higher speed memory units, suchas read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM(DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), staticRAM (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymermemory such as ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase changeor ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS)memory, magnetic or optical cards, an array of devices such as RedundantArray of Independent Disks (RAID) drives, solid state memory devices(e.g., USB memory, solid state drives (SSD) and any other type ofstorage media suitable for storing information. In the illustratedembodiment shown in FIG. 16, the system memory 1606 can includenon-volatile memory 1610 and/or volatile memory 1612. A basicinput/output system (BIOS) can be stored in the non-volatile memory1610.

The computer 1602 may include various types of computer-readable storagemedia in the form of one or more lower speed memory units, including aninternal (or external) hard disk drive (HDD) 1614, a magnetic floppydisk drive (FDD) 1616 to read from or write to a removable magnetic disk1618, and an optical disk drive 1620 to read from or write to aremovable optical disk 1622 (e.g., a CD-ROM or DVD). The HDD 1614, FDD1616 and optical disk drive 1620 can be connected to the system bus 1608by a HDD interface 1624, an FDD interface 1626 and an optical driveinterface 1628, respectively. The HDD interface 1624 for external driveimplementations can include at least one or both of Universal Serial Bus(USB) and IEEE 1394 interface technologies.

The drives and associated computer-readable media provide volatileand/or nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For example, a number of program modules canbe stored in the drives and memory units 1610, 1612, including anoperating system 1630, one or more application programs 1632, otherprogram modules 1634, and program data 1636.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 1602 throughone or more wire/wireless input devices, for example, a keyboard 1638and a pointing device, such as a mouse 1640. Other input devices mayinclude microphones, infra-red (IR) remote controls, radio-frequency(RF) remote controls, game pads, stylus pens, card readers, dongles,finger print readers, gloves, graphics tablets, joysticks, keyboards,retina readers, touch screens (e.g., capacitive, resistive, etc.),trackballs, trackpads, sensors, styluses, and the like. These and otherinput devices are often connected to the processing unit 1604 through aninput device interface 1642 that is coupled to the system bus 1608, butcan be connected by other interfaces such as a parallel port, IEEE 1394serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, and so forth.

A monitor 1644 or other type of display device is also connected to thesystem bus 1608 via an interface, such as a video adaptor 1646. Themonitor 1644 may be internal or external to the computer 1602. Inaddition to the monitor 1644, a computer typically includes otherperipheral output devices, such as speakers, printers, and so forth.

The computer 1602 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wire and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer 1648. The remote computer1648 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, a personalcomputer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainmentappliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described relative to the computer1602, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device1650 is illustrated. The logical connections depicted includewire/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 1652 and/orlarger networks, for example, a wide area network (WAN) 1654. Such LANand WAN networking environments are commonplace in offices andcompanies, and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such asintranets, all of which may connect to a global communications network,for example, the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1602 isconnected to the LAN 1652 through a wire and/or wireless communicationnetwork interface or adaptor 1656. The adaptor 1656 can facilitate wireand/or wireless communications to the LAN 1652, which may also include awireless access point disposed thereon for communicating with thewireless functionality of the adaptor 1656.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1602 can includea modem 1658, or is connected to a communications server on the WAN1654, or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN1654, such as by way of the Internet. The modem 1658, which can beinternal or external and a wire and/or wireless device, connects to thesystem bus 1608 via the input device interface 1642. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 1602, orportions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device1650. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areexemplary and other means of establishing a communications link betweenthe computers can be used.

The computer 1602 is operable to communicate with wire and wirelessdevices or entities using the IEEE 802 family of standards, such aswireless devices operatively disposed in wireless communication (e.g.,IEEE 802.16 over-the-air modulation techniques). This includes at leastWi-Fi (or Wireless Fidelity), WiMax, and Bluetooth™ wirelesstechnologies, among others. Thus, the communication can be a predefinedstructure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoccommunication between at least two devices. Wi-Fi networks use radiotechnologies called IEEE 802.11x (a, b, g, n, etc.) to provide secure,reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used toconnect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wire networks(which use IEEE 802.3-related media and functions).

FIG. 17 illustrates an embodiment of a system 1700. In variousembodiments, system 1700 may be representative of a system orarchitecture that is realized according to one or more techniquesdescribed herein, such as one or more of the underfilling process ofFIG. 7, the underfilling process of FIG. 9, the underfilling process ofFIGS. 10A and 10B, the feature formation process of FIGS. 12A, 12B, and12C, process flow 1300 of FIG. 13, process flow 1400 of FIG. 14, storagemedium 1500 of FIG. 15, and computing architecture 1600 of FIG. 16. Theembodiments are not limited in this respect.

As shown in FIG. 17, system 1700 may include multiple elements. One ormore elements may be implemented using one or more circuits, components,registers, processors, software subroutines, modules, or any combinationthereof, as desired for a given set of design or performanceconstraints. Although FIG. 17 shows a limited number of elements in acertain topology by way of example, it can be appreciated that more orless elements in any suitable topology may be used in system 1700 asdesired for a given implementation. The embodiments are not limited inthis context.

In embodiments, system 1700 may be a media system although system 1700is not limited to this context. For example, system 1700 may beincorporated into a personal computer (PC), laptop computer,ultra-laptop computer, tablet, touch pad, portable computer, handheldcomputer, palmtop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), cellulartelephone, combination cellular telephone/PDA, television, smart device(e.g., smart phone, smart tablet or smart television), mobile internetdevice (MID), messaging device, data communication device, and so forth.

In embodiments, system 1700 includes a platform 1701 coupled to adisplay 1745. Platform 1701 may receive content from a content devicesuch as content services device(s) 1748 or content delivery device(s)1749 or other similar content sources. A navigation controller 1750including one or more navigation features may be used to interact with,for example, platform 1701 and/or display 1745. Each of these componentsis described in more detail below.

In embodiments, platform 1701 may include any combination of a processorcircuit 1702, chipset 1703, memory unit 1704, transceiver 1744, storage1746, applications 1751, and/or graphics subsystem 1752. Chipset 1703may provide intercommunication among processor circuit 1702, memory unit1704, transceiver 1744, storage 1746, applications 1751, and/or graphicssubsystem 1752. For example, chipset 1703 may include a storage adapter(not depicted) capable of providing intercommunication with storage1746.

Processor circuit 1702 may be implemented using any processor or logicdevice, and may be the same as or similar to processing unit 1604 ofFIG. 16. Memory unit 1704 may be implemented using any machine-readableor computer-readable media capable of storing data, and may be the sameas or similar to system memory 1606 of FIG. 16. Transceiver 1744 mayinclude one or more radios capable of transmitting and receiving signalsusing various suitable wireless communications techniques. Display 1745may include any television type monitor or display, and may be the sameas or similar to monitor 1644 of FIG. 16. Storage 1746 may beimplemented as a non-volatile storage device, and may be the same as orsimilar to HDD 1614 of FIG. 16.

Graphics subsystem 1752 may perform processing of images such as stillor video for display. Graphics subsystem 1752 may be a graphicsprocessing unit (GPU) or a visual processing unit (VPU), for example. Ananalog or digital interface may be used to communicatively couplegraphics subsystem 1752 and display 1745. For example, the interface maybe any of a High-Definition Multimedia Interface, DisplayPort, wirelessHDMI, and/or wireless HD compliant techniques. Graphics subsystem 1752could be integrated into processor circuit 1702 or chipset 1703.Graphics subsystem 1752 could be a stand-alone card communicativelycoupled to chipset 1703.

The graphics and/or video processing techniques described herein may beimplemented in various hardware architectures. For example, graphicsand/or video functionality may be integrated within a chipset.Alternatively, a discrete graphics and/or video processor may be used.As still another embodiment, the graphics and/or video functions may beimplemented by a general purpose processor, including a multi-coreprocessor. In a further embodiment, the functions may be implemented ina consumer electronics device.

In embodiments, content services device(s) 1748 may be hosted by anynational, international and/or independent service and thus accessibleto platform 1701 via the Internet, for example. Content servicesdevice(s) 1748 may be coupled to platform 1701 and/or to display 1745.Platform 1701 and/or content services device(s) 1748 may be coupled to anetwork 1753 to communicate (e.g., send and/or receive) mediainformation to and from network 1753. Content delivery device(s) 1749also may be coupled to platform 1701 and/or to display 1745.

In embodiments, content services device(s) 1748 may include a cabletelevision box, personal computer, network, telephone, Internet enableddevices or appliance capable of delivering digital information and/orcontent, and any other similar device capable of unidirectionally orbidirectionally communicating content between content providers andplatform 1701 and/display 1745, via network 1753 or directly. It will beappreciated that the content may be communicated unidirectionally and/orbidirectionally to and from any one of the components in system 1700 anda content provider via network 1753. Examples of content may include anymedia information including, for example, video, music, medical andgaming information, and so forth.

Content services device(s) 1748 receives content such as cabletelevision programming including media information, digital information,and/or other content. Examples of content providers may include anycable or satellite television or radio or Internet content providers.The provided examples are not meant to limit embodiments of thedisclosed subject matter.

In embodiments, platform 1701 may receive control signals fromnavigation controller 1750 having one or more navigation features. Thenavigation features of navigation controller 1750 may be used tointeract with a user interface 1754, for example. In embodiments,navigation controller 1750 may be a pointing device that may be acomputer hardware component (specifically human interface device) thatallows a user to input spatial (e.g., continuous and multi-dimensional)data into a computer. Many systems such as graphical user interfaces(GUI), and televisions and monitors allow the user to control andprovide data to the computer or television using physical gestures.

Movements of the navigation features of navigation controller 1750 maybe echoed on a display (e.g., display 1745) by movements of a pointer,cursor, focus ring, or other visual indicators displayed on the display.For example, under the control of software applications 1751, thenavigation features located on navigation controller 1750 may be mappedto virtual navigation features displayed on user interface 1754. Inembodiments, navigation controller 1750 may not be a separate componentbut integrated into platform 1701 and/or display 1745. Embodiments,however, are not limited to the elements or in the context shown ordescribed herein.

In embodiments, drivers (not shown) may include technology to enableusers to instantly turn on and off platform 1701 like a television withthe touch of a button after initial boot-up, when enabled, for example.Program logic may allow platform 1701 to stream content to mediaadaptors or other content services device(s) 1748 or content deliverydevice(s) 1749 when the platform is turned “off.” In addition, chip set1703 may include hardware and/or software support for 5.1 surround soundaudio and/or high definition 7.1 surround sound audio, for example.Drivers may include a graphics driver for integrated graphics platforms.In embodiments, the graphics driver may include a peripheral componentinterconnect (PCI) Express graphics card.

In various embodiments, any one or more of the components shown insystem 1700 may be integrated. For example, platform 1701 and contentservices device(s) 1748 may be integrated, or platform 1701 and contentdelivery device(s) 1749 may be integrated, or platform 1701, contentservices device(s) 1748, and content delivery device(s) 1749 may beintegrated, for example. In various embodiments, platform 1701 anddisplay 1745 may be an integrated unit. Display 1745 and content servicedevice(s) 1748 may be integrated, or display 1745 and content deliverydevice(s) 1749 may be integrated, for example. These examples are notmeant to limit the disclosed subject matter.

In various embodiments, system 1700 may be implemented as a wirelesssystem, a wired system, or a combination of both. When implemented as awireless system, system 1700 may include components and interfacessuitable for communicating over a wireless shared media, such as one ormore antennas, transmitters, receivers, transceivers, amplifiers,filters, control logic, and so forth. An example of wireless sharedmedia may include portions of a wireless spectrum, such as the RFspectrum and so forth. When implemented as a wired system, system 1700may include components and interfaces suitable for communicating overwired communications media, such as I/O adapters, physical connectors toconnect the I/O adapter with a corresponding wired communicationsmedium, a network interface card (NIC), disc controller, videocontroller, audio controller, and so forth. Examples of wiredcommunications media may include a wire, cable, metal leads, printedcircuit board (PCB), backplane, switch fabric, semiconductor material,twisted-pair wire, co-axial cable, fiber optics, and so forth.

Platform 1701 may establish one or more logical or physical channels tocommunicate information. The information may include media informationand control information. Media information may refer to any datarepresenting content meant for a user. Examples of content may include,for example, data from a voice conversation, videoconference, streamingvideo, electronic mail (“email”) message, voice mail message,alphanumeric symbols, graphics, image, video, text and so forth. Datafrom a voice conversation may be, for example, speech information,silence periods, background noise, comfort noise, tones and so forth.Control information may refer to any data representing commands,instructions or control words meant for an automated system. Forexample, control information may be used to route media informationthrough a system, or instruct a node to process the media information ina predetermined manner. The embodiments, however, are not limited to theelements or in the context shown or described in FIG. 17.

As described above, system 1700 may be embodied in varying physicalstyles or form factors. FIG. 18 illustrates embodiments of a small formfactor device 1800 in which system 1700 may be embodied. In embodiments,for example, device 1800 may be implemented as a mobile computing devicehaving wireless capabilities. A mobile computing device may refer to anydevice having a processing system and a mobile power source or supply,such as one or more batteries, for example.

As described above, examples of a mobile computing device may include apersonal computer (PC), laptop computer, ultra-laptop computer, tablet,touch pad, portable computer, handheld computer, palmtop computer,personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular telephone, combinationcellular telephone/PDA, television, smart device (e.g., smart phone,smart tablet or smart television), mobile internet device (MID),messaging device, data communication device, and so forth.

Examples of a mobile computing device also may include computers thatare arranged to be worn by a person, such as a wrist computer, fingercomputer, ring computer, eyeglass computer, belt-clip computer, arm-bandcomputer, shoe computers, clothing computers, and other wearablecomputers. In embodiments, for example, a mobile computing device may beimplemented as a smart phone capable of executing computer applications,as well as voice communications and/or data communications. Althoughsome embodiments may be described with a mobile computing deviceimplemented as a smart phone by way of example, it may be appreciatedthat other embodiments may be implemented using other wireless mobilecomputing devices as well. The embodiments are not limited in thiscontext.

As shown in FIG. 18, device 1800 may include a display 1845, anavigation controller 1850, a user interface 1854, a housing 1855, anI/O device 1856, and an antenna 1857. Display 1845 may include anysuitable display unit for displaying information appropriate for amobile computing device, and may be the same as or similar to display1745 in FIG. 17. Navigation controller 1850 may include one or morenavigation features which may be used to interact with user interface1854, and may be the same as or similar to navigation controller 1750 inFIG. 17. I/O device 1856 may include any suitable I/O device forentering information into a mobile computing device. Examples for I/Odevice 1856 may include an alphanumeric keyboard, a numeric keypad, atouch pad, input keys, buttons, switches, rocker switches, microphones,speakers, voice recognition device and software, and so forth.Information also may be entered into device 1800 by way of microphone.Such information may be digitized by a voice recognition device. Theembodiments are not limited in this context.

Various embodiments may be implemented using hardware elements, softwareelements, or a combination of both. Examples of hardware elements mayinclude processors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g.,transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integratedcircuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmablelogic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmablegate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips,microchips, chip sets, and so forth. Examples of software may includesoftware components, programs, applications, computer programs,application programs, system programs, machine programs, operatingsystem software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines,subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces,application program interfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code,computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values,symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whether an embodimentis implemented using hardware elements and/or software elements may varyin accordance with any number of factors, such as desired computationalrate, power levels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input datarates, output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and otherdesign or performance constraints.

One or more aspects of at least one embodiment may be implemented byrepresentative instructions stored on a machine-readable medium whichrepresents various logic within the processor, which when read by amachine causes the machine to fabricate logic to perform the techniquesdescribed herein. Such representations, known as “IP cores” may bestored on a tangible, machine readable medium and supplied to variouscustomers or manufacturing facilities to load into the fabricationmachines that actually make the logic or processor. Some embodiments maybe implemented, for example, using a machine-readable medium or articlewhich may store an instruction or a set of instructions that, ifexecuted by a machine, may cause the machine to perform a method and/oroperations in accordance with the embodiments. Such a machine mayinclude, for example, any suitable processing platform, computingplatform, computing device, processing device, computing system,processing system, computer, processor, or the like, and may beimplemented using any suitable combination of hardware and/or software.The machine-readable medium or article may include, for example, anysuitable type of memory unit, memory device, memory article, memorymedium, storage device, storage article, storage medium and/or storageunit, for example, memory, removable or non-removable media, erasable ornon-erasable media, writeable or re-writeable media, digital or analogmedia, hard disk, floppy disk, Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM),Compact Disk Recordable (CD-R), Compact Disk Rewriteable (CD-RW),optical disk, magnetic media, magneto-optical media, removable memorycards or disks, various types of Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), a tape, acassette, or the like. The instructions may include any suitable type ofcode, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executablecode, static code, dynamic code, encrypted code, and the like,implemented using any suitable high-level, low-level, object-oriented,visual, compiled and/or interpreted programming language.

The following examples pertain to further embodiments:

Example 1 is a method, comprising mounting an electronic element on asurface of a substrate, dispensing an underfill material upon thesurface of the substrate within a dispense region for forming anunderfill for the electronic element, the underfill material to comprisea non-visible light (NVL)-curable material, and projecting curing raysupon at least a portion of the dispensed underfill material to inhibitan outward flow of dispensed underfill material from the dispenseregion.

Example 2 is the method of Example 1, the curing rays to compriseultraviolet (UV) light.

Example 3 is the method of Example 1, the curing rays to compriseinfrared (IR) light.

Example 4 is the method of any of Examples 1 to 3, comprising conveyinga dispense assembly along a dispense path to dispense the underfillmaterial within the dispense region.

Example 5 is the method of Example 4, the dispense assembly to comprisea light source, the light source to project a curing beam upon dispensedunderfill material as the dispense assembly traverses the dispense path.

Example 6 is the method of any of Examples 1 to 3, comprising projectinga curing frame upon a curing region surrounding the dispense region.

Example 7 is the method of any of Examples 1 to 6, the electronicelement to comprise a semiconductor die.

Example 8 is the method of Example 7, the semiconductor die to compriseone or more integrated circuits (ICs).

Example 9 is the method of Example 8, the one or more ICs to compriseprocessing circuitry.

Example 10 is the method of any of Examples 8 to 9, the one or more ICsto comprise radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry.

Example 11 is the method of any of Examples 1 to 10, the substrate tocomprise a printed circuit board (PCB).

Example 12 is the method of any of Examples 1 to 11, the underfillmaterial to comprise an NVL-curable epoxy.

Example 13 is the method of Example 12, the NVL-curable epoxy tocomprise a cationic ultraviolet (UV)-curable epoxy or a free radicalUV-curable epoxy.

Example 14 is the method of any of Examples 12 to 13, the NVL-curableepoxy to comprise a thermally-curable epoxy.

Example 15 is an apparatus, comprising a dispenser to dispense anunderfill material, the underfill material to comprise a non-visiblelight (NVL)-curable material selected for use to form an underfill foran electronic element mounted on a surface of a substrate, and a lightsource coupled to the dispenser, the light source to emit curing raysfor curing underfill material dispensed by the dispenser.

Example 16 is the apparatus of Example 15, the curing rays to compriseultraviolet (UV) light.

Example 17 is the apparatus of Example 15, the curing rays to compriseinfrared (IR) light.

Example 18 is the apparatus of any of Examples 15 to 17, the electronicelement to comprise a semiconductor die.

Example 19 is the apparatus of Example 18, the semiconductor die tocomprise one or more integrated circuits (ICs).

Example 20 is the apparatus of Example 19, the one or more ICs tocomprise processing circuitry.

Example 21 is the apparatus of any of Examples 19 to 20, the one or moreICs to comprise radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry.

Example 22 is the apparatus of any of Examples 15 to 21, the substrateto comprise a printed circuit board (PCB).

Example 23 is the apparatus of any of Examples 15 to 22, the underfillmaterial to comprise an NVL-curable epoxy.

Example 24 is the apparatus of Example 23, the NVL-curable epoxy tocomprise a cationic ultraviolet (UV)-curable epoxy or a free radicalUV-curable epoxy.

Example 25 is the apparatus of any of Examples 23 to 24, the NVL-curableepoxy to comprise a thermally-curable epoxy.

Example 26 is a method, comprising depositing a stencil material to forman underfilling stencil for an electronic element mounted on a surfaceof a substrate, dispensing an underfill material through one or moreopenings of the underfilling stencil to form an underfill for theelectronic element, the underfill material to comprise a non-visiblelight (NVL)-curable material, and projecting curing rays to cure atleast a portion of the dispensed underfill material.

Example 27 is the method of Example 26, the curing rays to compriseultraviolet (UV) light.

Example 28 is the method of Example 26, the curing rays to compriseinfrared (IR) light.

Example 29 is the method of any of Examples 26 to 28, at least a portionof the curing rays to at least partially permeate the underfillingstencil.

Example 30 is the method of any of Examples 26 to 29, the electronicelement to comprise a semiconductor die.

Example 31 is the method of Example 30, the semiconductor die tocomprise one or more integrated circuits (ICs).

Example 32 is the method of Example 31, the one or more ICs to compriseprocessing circuitry.

Example 33 is the method of any of Examples 31 to 32, the one or moreICs to comprise radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry.

Example 34 is the method of any of Examples 26 to 33, the substrate tocomprise a printed circuit board (PCB).

Example 35 is the method of any of Examples 26 to 34, the underfillmaterial to comprise an NVL-curable epoxy.

Example 36 is the method of Example 35, the NVL-curable epoxy tocomprise a cationic ultraviolet (UV)-curable epoxy or a free radicalUV-curable epoxy.

Example 37 is the method of any of Examples 35 to 36, the NVL-curableepoxy to comprise a thermally-curable epoxy.

Example 38 is at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium, comprising a set of instructions that, in response to beingexecuted by processing circuitry of an electronic device fabricationsystem, cause the electronic device fabrication system to mount anelectronic element on a surface of a substrate, dispense an underfillmaterial upon the surface of the substrate within a dispense region forforming an underfill for the electronic element, the underfill materialto comprise a non-visible light (NVL)-curable material, and projectcuring rays upon at least a portion of the dispensed underfill materialto inhibit an outward flow of dispensed underfill material from thedispense region.

Example 39 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of Example 38, the curing rays to comprise ultraviolet (UV)light.

Example 40 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of Example 38, the curing rays to comprise infrared (IR) light.

Example 41 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 38 to 40, comprising instructions that, inresponse to being executed by processing circuitry of the electronicdevice fabrication system, cause the electronic device fabricationsystem to convey a dispense assembly along a dispense path to dispensethe underfill material within the dispense region.

Example 42 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of Example 41, the dispense assembly to comprise a light source,the light source to project a curing beam upon dispensed underfillmaterial as the dispense assembly traverses the dispense path.

Example 43 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 38 to 40, comprising instructions that, inresponse to being executed by processing circuitry of the electronicdevice fabrication system, cause the electronic device fabricationsystem to project a curing frame upon a curing region surrounding thedispense region.

Example 44 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 38 to 43, the electronic element to comprise asemiconductor die.

Example 45 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of Example 44, the semiconductor die to comprise one or moreintegrated circuits (ICs).

Example 46 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of Example 45, the one or more ICs to comprise processingcircuitry.

Example 47 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 45 to 46, the one or more ICs to compriseradio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry.

Example 48 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 38 to 47, the substrate to comprise a printedcircuit board (PCB).

Example 49 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 1 to 48, the underfill material to comprise anNVL-curable epoxy.

Example 50 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of Example 49, the NVL-curable epoxy to comprise a cationicultraviolet (UV)-curable epoxy or a free radical UV-curable epoxy.

Example 51 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 49 to 50, the NVL-curable epoxy to comprise athermally-curable epoxy.

Example 52 is a dispense assembly, comprising means for dispensing anunderfill material, the underfill material to comprise a non-visiblelight (NVL)-curable material selected for use to form an underfill foran electronic element mounted on a surface of a substrate, and means foremitting curing rays for curing dispensed underfill material.

Example 53 is the dispense assembly of Example 52, the curing rays tocomprise ultraviolet (UV) light.

Example 54 is the dispense assembly of Example 52, the curing rays tocomprise infrared (IR) light.

Example 55 is the dispense assembly of any of Examples 52 to 54, theelectronic element to comprise a semiconductor die.

Example 56 is the dispense assembly of Example 55, the semiconductor dieto comprise one or more integrated circuits (ICs).

Example 57 is the dispense assembly of Example 56, the one or more ICsto comprise processing circuitry.

Example 58 is the dispense assembly of any of Examples 56 to 57, the oneor more ICs to comprise radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry.

Example 59 is the dispense assembly of any of Examples 52 to 58, thesubstrate to comprise a printed circuit board (PCB).

Example 60 is the dispense assembly of any of Examples 52 to 59, theunderfill material to comprise an NVL-curable epoxy.

Example 61 is the dispense assembly of Example 60, the NVL-curable epoxyto comprise a cationic ultraviolet (UV)-curable epoxy or a free radicalUV-curable epoxy.

Example 62 is the dispense assembly of any of Examples 60 to 61, theNVL-curable epoxy to comprise a thermally-curable epoxy.

Example 63 is at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium, comprising a set of instructions that, in response to beingexecuted by processing circuitry of an electronic device fabricationsystem, cause the electronic device fabrication system to deposit astencil material to form an underfilling stencil for an electronicelement mounted on a surface of a substrate, dispense an underfillmaterial through one or more openings of the underfilling stencil toform an underfill for the electronic element, the underfill material tocomprise a non-visible light (NVL)-curable material, and project curingrays to cure at least a portion of the dispensed underfill material.

Example 64 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of Example 63, the curing rays to comprise ultraviolet (UV)light.

Example 65 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of Example 63, the curing rays to comprise infrared (IR) light.

Example 66 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 63 to 65, at least a portion of the curingrays to at least partially permeate the underfilling stencil.

Example 67 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 63 to 66, the electronic element to comprise asemiconductor die.

Example 68 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of Example 67, the semiconductor die to comprise one or moreintegrated circuits (ICs).

Example 69 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of Example 68, the one or more ICs to comprise processingcircuitry.

Example 70 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 68 to 69, the one or more ICs to compriseradio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry.

Example 71 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 63 to 70, the substrate to comprise a printedcircuit board (PCB).

Example 72 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 63 to 71, the underfill material to comprisean NVL-curable epoxy.

Example 73 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of Example 72, the NVL-curable epoxy to comprise a cationicultraviolet (UV)-curable epoxy or a free radical UV-curable epoxy.

Example 74 is the at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of any of Examples 72 to 73, the NVL-curable epoxy to comprise athermally-curable epoxy.

Numerous specific details have been set forth herein to provide athorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be understood bythose skilled in the art, however, that the embodiments may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-knownoperations, components, and circuits have not been described in detailso as not to obscure the embodiments. It can be appreciated that thespecific structural and functional details disclosed herein may berepresentative and do not necessarily limit the scope of theembodiments.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and“connected” along with their derivatives. These terms are not intendedas synonyms for each other. For example, some embodiments may bedescribed using the terms “connected” and/or “coupled” to indicate thattwo or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact witheach other. The term “coupled,” however, may also mean that two or moreelements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet stillco-operate or interact with each other.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, it may be appreciated that termssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” or thelike, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computingsystem, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and/ortransforms data represented as physical quantities (e.g., electronic)within the computing system's registers and/or memories into other datasimilarly represented as physical quantities within the computingsystem's memories, registers or other such information storage,transmission or display devices. The embodiments are not limited in thiscontext.

It should be noted that the methods described herein do not have to beexecuted in the order described, or in any particular order. Moreover,various activities described with respect to the methods identifiedherein can be executed in serial or parallel fashion.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated toachieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodimentsshown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations orvariations of various embodiments. It is to be understood that the abovedescription has been made in an illustrative fashion, and not arestrictive one. Combinations of the above embodiments, and otherembodiments not specifically described herein will be apparent to thoseof skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Thus, thescope of various embodiments includes any other applications in whichthe above compositions, structures, and methods are used.

It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is provided tocomply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allowthe reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure.It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used tointerpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, inthe foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various featuresare grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose ofstreamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to beinterpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodimentsrequire more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather,as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in lessthan all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the followingclaims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with eachclaim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment. In theappended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as theplain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and“wherein,” respectively. Moreover, the terms “first,” “second,” and“third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to imposenumerical requirements on their objects.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: mounting an electronicelement on a surface of a substrate; dispensing an underfill materialupon the surface of the substrate within a dispense region for formingan underfill for the electronic element, the underfill material tocomprise a non-visible light (NVL)-curable material; and projectingcuring rays upon at least a portion of the dispensed underfill materialto inhibit an outward flow of dispensed underfill material from thedispense region.
 2. The method of claim 1, the curing rays to compriseultraviolet (UV) light.
 3. The method of claim 1, the curing rays tocomprise infrared (IR) light.
 4. The method of claim 1, comprisingconveying a dispense assembly along a dispense path to dispense theunderfill material within the dispense region.
 5. The method of claim 4,the dispense assembly to comprise a light source, the light source toproject a curing beam upon dispensed underfill material as the dispenseassembly traverses the dispense path.
 6. The method of claim 1,comprising projecting a curing frame upon a curing region surroundingthe dispense region.
 7. The method of claim 1, the electronic element tocomprise a semiconductor die.
 8. The method of claim 7, thesemiconductor die to comprise one or more integrated circuits (ICs). 9.The method of claim 1, the substrate to comprise a printed circuit board(PCB).
 10. The method of claim 1, the underfill material to comprise anNVL-curable epoxy.
 11. An apparatus, comprising: a dispenser to dispensean underfill material, the underfill material to comprise a non-visiblelight (NVL)-curable material selected for use to form an underfill foran electronic element mounted on a surface of a substrate; and a lightsource coupled to the dispenser, the light source to emit curing raysfor curing underfill material dispensed by the dispenser.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 11, the curing rays to comprise ultraviolet (UV)light.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, the curing rays to compriseinfrared (IR) light.
 14. The apparatus of claim 11, the electronicelement to comprise a semiconductor die.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14,the semiconductor die to comprise one or more integrated circuits (ICs).16. The apparatus of claim 11, the substrate to comprise a printedcircuit board (PCB).
 17. The apparatus of claim 11, the underfillmaterial to comprise an NVL-curable epoxy.
 18. A method, comprising:depositing a stencil material to form an underfilling stencil for anelectronic element mounted on a surface of a substrate; dispensing anunderfill material through one or more openings of the underfillingstencil to form an underfill for the electronic element, the underfillmaterial to comprise a non-visible light (NVL)-curable material; andprojecting curing rays to cure at least a portion of the dispensedunderfill material.
 19. The method of claim 18, the curing rays tocomprise ultraviolet (UV) light.
 20. The method of claim 18, the curingrays to comprise infrared (IR) light.
 21. The method of claim 18, atleast a portion of the curing rays to at least partially permeate theunderfilling stencil.
 22. The method of claim 18, the electronic elementto comprise a semiconductor die.
 23. The method of claim 22, thesemiconductor die to comprise one or more integrated circuits (ICs). 24.The method of claim 18, the substrate to comprise a printed circuitboard (PCB).
 25. The method of claim 18, the underfill material tocomprise an NVL-curable epoxy.